Find Your Adventure

Everett Ruess

February 02, 2010

The discovery of explorer Everett Ruess’s skeletal remains, as detailed in the April/May 2009 issue of Adventure ("Finding Everett Ruess"), appeared to be a slam dunk. A team of forensic scientists laid out an impressive case, backed by a DNA test that linked bones found in the Utah desert to the long-lost explorer, an icon of the American Southwest. Well, DNA results are only as good as the process that produces them, and in this case, a peculiar set of blunders managed to complicate, rather than solve, a 75-year-old mystery.

"Based on available data, we think there are several evidentiary reasons to keep the investigation open, and to have the analyses replicated by independent researchers," they wrote.

The critics question the validity of Aneth Nez’s story, the Navajo tribal member who said he knew how Ruess died. These doubts are primarily based on the Navajo taboos against touching blood, the historic Navajo rivalry with Utes, and the strength needed to carry a body hundreds of feet to the reported grave. Jones and Kopp also believe the photos of the teeth show traits of a Native American diet, not consistent with non-natives, and the superimposed photos of Ruess and the skeleton lack sufficient scale to determine its validity. And while they agreed the DNA evidence "seems to be unassailable," they said the need for two DNA tests implies a discrepancy.

"We’re not suggesting that the mystery of Everett Ruess’s disappearance has not been solved," they wrote. "We do hope, however, that additional, independent studies will be conducted to address questions that still remain."

ADVENTURE Contributing Editor David Roberts acknowledges that contradictory data exists, but believes a lot of it is unreliable and suspect--such as the supposed dental records, which didn’t have Everett's name on them--and thinks the DNA evidence is solid. "I am still completely confident in the results," says Roberts, who has been researching the Everett Ruess story for more than a decade. "This mystery has created new mysteries that are even more insolvable. But what surprises me is the passion and even anger this has stirred up. You can understand the family getting passionate, but even supposed impartial bystanders are getting hot under the collar."

Ruess's niece and nephew, whose DNA was used to link the skeletal remains to Everett, spoke recently at an Everett Ruess symposium hosted by the Glen Canyon Institute in late June.

"We are 100 percent convinced that it is Everett," said Brian Ruess, Evertt's nephew. "I believe the DNA results prove that it is an uncle of ours beyond a statistical certainty, and seeing as there is no other missing uncle to our knowledge, we're pretty confident that it's Everett." (Editor's Note: However, in a New York Times article published July 5, the Ruess family seems less confident.)

Five other experts intimately involved in the case also spoke at the symposium about their experiences and theories of the Everett remains, all saying the DNA tests were persuasive.

And while critics have pushed the Ruess family to pursue more scientific tests, Brian Ruess, who said this has tormented his family for 75 years, isn’t bothered. At this time, they still plan on cremating the remains and spreading them in the Pacific Ocean, as is the Ruess tradition.

"The aspect of this that affects our family, which does not affect any of the rest of you, is that of closure," Brian told the symposium audience. "This can be dragged on forever. Everybody can challenge every last piece of evidence, but there will never be a resolution of every single question because no one was there. [Our family] is convinced, and we are not going to play the game of 'is it, is it not,' to the detriment of our emotional health."

The Boulder scientists who worked with ADVENTURE on this mystery are compiling their reports, which will be released in the near future.

At 1 p.m. EST today, during a press conference with reporters from Newsweek, the New York Times, the L.A. Times, and others, ADVENTURE announced some thrilling news. After a yearlong investigation by NGA contributing editor David Roberts, DNA tests have confirmed that a body found in the Utah desert is, indeed, that of famed explorer and artistEverett Ruess, solving a mystery that has baffled law enforcement for more than 75 years.

You can read all about the discovery of the gravesite in the current issue of ADVENTURE (read an excerpt here). And while the story includes some remarkable evidence—a Navajo tale of murder in the desert, some CSI-style forensic tests—the DNA results are definitive.

To complete the tests, a team of researchers from the University of Colorado compared the DNA of a femur found at the site to saliva samples taken from four of Ruess’s nieces and nephews, the closest living relatives. The results were spot-on. “This was a textbook case,” says Dr. Kenneth Krauter. “We had a large number of markers [600,000] and, when comparing the bone DNA and the Ruess samples, the mode of inheritance of those markers was exactly what you’d expect for the relationship between an uncle and a niece or nephew.” That’s science-speak for: This is Everett Ruess. So keep an eye out further Ruess coverage and check back here for updates. Here’s the official press release.

Everett Ruess captured the imaginations of generations of people who lived and visited the Southwest. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this discovery. Please post comments below.